


Needles and Pins

by memories_child



Category: Californication (TV)
Genre: Character Study, Drabble, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-23
Updated: 2012-01-23
Packaged: 2017-10-30 01:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/326038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memories_child/pseuds/memories_child
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hank doesn't mind Karen keeping him on needles and pins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Needles and Pins

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: None, really.  
> Discalimer: Not mine, never will be (unless I get a job writing for it)  
> A/N: The first of my drabble requests, and my first _ever_ piece of Californication fanfic, written for hankmoodyblues who requested the pairing Hank/Karen and the prompt 'I don't mind you keeping me on pins and needles'. This was really hard to write and I'm really not sure how I've done with it. It's not great, and I'm not sure that it's in character, but for a first go maybe it's not that bad? I dunno. I don't know the characters as well as I do Mulder and Scully, and I think that shows. But the more I watch and the more I write, maybe the better I'll get.

Hank stares into the bathroom mirror, water dripping from his stubble covered jaw. "Nobody likes you, you're ugly and your mother dresses you funny. Now smile, you fucking douche." He repeats the phrase that's somehow become his mantra before pasting a smile onto his face, but it feels fake; as fucking fake as everything else in this goddamn city. He's sure he can see in his eyes the last vestiges of dignity slipping away.

"Jesus Hank," he mutters. "Isn't it a little early to be breaking out the self pity? What's next, a cheap bottle of whisky in a paper bag on a park bench?" Though actually, he admits to himself, that wouldn't be a bad thing. Better than where he's headed next at any rate; to Bill's, to Karen's - to her undoubtedly stony face and equally undoubtedly warm lips.

The gate is closed when he pulls up and it takes a minute for his fumbling fingers to find the latch. He tiptoes around the pool, following the sound of muted sobs to where Karen sits on the warm stone floor. The sight of her breaks his heart, it always does. And he wonders again why they always end up this way.

"You ok?"

"What does it look like, Hank?"

He crouches next to her and resists the urge to wipe the tears from her cheeks. He's been there before, they both have, and while he'd love nothing more than to touch her right now something tells him he'd get a slap in return. In all honesty it'd be no more than he deserves.

"I fucked up."

"You fucked up."

They sit in silence, the sun falling through the trees that line the yard dappling Karen's face in patches of light and dark. He thinks it's fitting, somehow; how often she's caught between sunshine and shadow.

"You fucked up, but you're always fucking up Hank. It's what makes you you."

She traces her fingers across his lip, leaning in so close that he can almost taste the salty tracks on her face. He breathes her in, taking in the scent of her like water to a drowning man. He wonders if she knows the power she has over him.

"But if you ever do something like that again..." The words hang in the air, threat and promise rolled into one.

"If I ever do something like that again?" He can't help it, can't help baiting her even though he knows he should just shut the fuck up and not risk turning this moment into another struggle, like almost every moment like this he's had with her before.

She rolls her eyes and rises, letting her fingers linger on his shoulder as she turns to walk away.

"You'll never change, Hank."

He watches her as she walks into the house, watches her even though she doesn't look back. He doesn't mind her keeping him on pins and needles. It's all that he knows, when it comes to Karen, after all.


End file.
